USS Enterprise J : The Future Awaits
by Spitfire6
Summary: It's the 26th Century and the Starship Enterprise J deals with pending threats and the aftermath of the Battle of Procyon V and the return of the Dominion. Please R


Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry

© Copyright Viacom and Paramount Studios

_Excerpts from 'Azati Prime' written by : __Rick Berman__ & __Brannon Braga__ and __Manny Coto_

**Star Trek: The Future Awaits**

**The Voyages of the USS Enterprise-J**

_**Procyon V**_

_**2554 C.E.**_

The ships appeared like glowing stars as they came out of slipstream. Fifty-four in all representing several powers. Among these was the Cassini-Class_ USS Enterprise _NCC-1701-J.

The _Enterprise's _saucer section was twice the size of the 1701D and its engineering section lay across the dorsal - rather than ventral hull with sweptback nacelles. It had been exotic to some, bizarre to others type of design to be crewed by 2,065 men and women.

Now she was in the thick of things….A war with the sphere builders. Their delay from mutating the expanse to support their life forms had taken 400 years to correct. However, the fractured species they had hoped to consume centuries ago were now a unified body, many belonging to the Federation. With a single purpose, the fleet had come to stop them.

Captain Ethan Williams sat in his command chair as the holographic imager displayed the tactical situation. "Engage the enemy." His command was given to the fleet. The giant starship banked and with its mega phasers and Argus torpedoes attacked.

"They can predict, even change the future." Commented his attractive first officer, Commander Jun'ko Nakasone, who sat at his side. "They tried in the past."

"And failed." Williams stood up. "We have 400 years of advancements on our side, Commander." He looked up though it was not required to address it. "Oracle, scan for temporal displacement."

The holo display changed, showing a sphere. _"Scan completed, Captain. The alien race identified only as Sphere Builders are attempting to reinenforce Sphere 321. If allowed to continue, a dimensional tear will result replacing our own within 50,000 light years. The result will be total annihilation of matter within it."_ Oracle was an advanced AI program with cogitative properties. _"A Horidarz charge at .783.98 at set coordinates 563 mark 20 should be sufficient." _

Williams knew that Oracle could not relate emotionally to the revelation that half of the galaxy would cease to exist yet this burden was not lifted from him. There could be no failure. Like Zhukov, who had to defend against aggression to save his people, so too did he.

"We've lost the _Etam, Hegh'ta, Trager _and the _Horatio_. The _Magellan_ is crippled." Reported Nakasone. Her concern was impossible to hide. The holo emitter at her side displayed the habitable sphere. If they failed here, the galaxy would never be the same.

"_The Qu'Vat is hailing, Captain." _Came the unrealistically calm monotone of the ship's computer.

"Display it on my console."

The image solidified of Captain Kerok, wearing the white, black and gray Starfleet uniform. He barked when he spoke._ "I've lost two ships, Captain. What will you have us do against these petaQ?"_

"You're a Klingon, I expect you know how to fight."

Kerok grumbled something that the translator did not pick up and the transmission faded.

Williams turned to his Xindi-Reptilian Tactical Officer, Lt. Commander Septo. "We need to destroy that sphere. Target it with everything we got."

"Lost the _Reliant_." Nakasone reported. Her display showing the status of the fleet. "_Pagh_ crippled…"

"Mr. Chisholm, evasive maneuver delta-three-zeta. "Take us in."

Lt. Commander Robert Chisholm had come over with Williams from the decommissioned _Lexington_ and it was rumored Chisholm was the captain's first choice for XO. "Aye Captain."

The _Enterprise_, even for her size, had a graceful quality as she moved in for the kill. A Sphere Builder ship attempted to intercept but was destroyed by the _Qu'Vat_. It was a rocky trip as enemy fire plummeted the hull.

Williams hanged on to his armrests. The whole thing reminded him of old dogfights.

"Captain, I have a temporal displacement…Deck 23, the Observation Deck." Septo stated. "Appears to be two human life signs…"

Williams and Nakasone exchange glances. "Send a security unit." Ordered the captain of the _Enterprise._

"Welcome aboard, Captain."

"Daniels!" Exclaimed Archer. "Where am I?"

"You're on _Enterprise_." Explained Daniels. "_Enterprise-J_, to be exact, a distant relative of your ship. We're 400 hundred years in the future."

"I'm going to assume you brought me here for a good reason."

"Look out there. It extends 50,000 light years in all directions and it is growing."

"I've seen it before." Replied Archer

"I know, in the Expanse."

"You know about the alien we found? The test subject?"

"He belongs to the same race that built the Spheres. They're altering this space to make it habitable

for their species. It's a prelude to invasion." Informed the time traveler.

"We came to the same conclusion."

"It's getting harder and harder to surprise you, Captain."

"I've brought you to a monumental event in history--the Battle of Procyon Five--where the Federation

engaged the Sphere builders."

"The Federation?" Inquired Archer. "You've mentioned them before."

"Vulcans, Andorians, Ithenites, Klingons, dozens of species, including humans, all unified in a powerful alliance against the Sphere builders."

"The Federation wins the battle. They drive the enemy back into their trans-dimensional realm. If the Federation had lost, the Sphere-builders would have spread throughout the galaxy. They would have wiped out everything. This species has technology which allows them to examine alternate timelines. They've seen this future and they want to change the outcome. So, they contacted the Xindi and convinced them that humanity was a dangerous threat. They want the Xindi to destroy us. Without humanity, the Federation will never exist. You have to make the Xindi understand that humanity isn't the enemy. In fact, it's humanity that will protect them from the Sphere-builders when this battle is won. Contact them. Make peace.

"They're about to deploy their weapon."

"I know."

"I can't let that happen!" Asserted Archer.

"If you destroy their weapon, they'll only build another. You are the only one who can convince them

of what I have told you. It is crucial to history that you do not sacrifice yourself."

"My concern is with preventing the deaths of billions of people. If that's a problem for history, then history will have to suffer!"

" Then send someone else…" Pleaded Daniels.

"I won't do that!"

"Captain, you have to believe me. You are making a catastrophic mistake."

"You've made your share of mistakes."

"This isn't one of them."

"Send me back." Demanded Archer. "Send me back now!"

"Take this." Daniels held out an object to Archer. "It's Xindi...a family medal that belongs to one of the crewmen on this ship. There are Xindi serving aboard Enterprise-J."

"Why are you giving this to me?" Archer grudgingly accepted the medal.

"In case you change your mind."

"I won't."

The security team entered the observation deck to find it now empty. Through the panoramic windows, the ensign in charge could see the battle progressing. Using his subdermal communicator, he contacted the Bridge. "F'leri here, Sir. Observation deck is secure. No life signs." He said as he moved his cyber gauntlet, equipped with tricorder and built-in phaser. "There are traces of chronotons but are dissipating."

"Have the photonics covering all decks." Nakasone ordered. "Just in case."

Septo tapped a few commands and a couple of armed holographic guards appeared on either side of the turbo lift behind him. The _Enterprise_ had a company of the Photonic Tactical Response Unit (PTRU). Being simply stored memory on the database, they could easily have a division; a whole army of holo soldiers at their disposal. Regulations, to ease the worries of some member worlds of benevolent use of such assets, was imposed to limit the number to 175.

Back on the Bridge, the revelation that intruders had been on the ship was soon one of many concerns of Septo as the giant sphere created abnormalities in a desperate attempt to gain victory.

"It wasn't transporters." The XO said. "Temporal displacement….Future or the past."

"We'll log it and have the Bureau of Temporal Investigations look into it later. Right now I'm more concerned with them." He jabbed a finger at his holographic display of the sphere. "Oracle, do a full scan of the sphere. Locate any defect, no matter how small. Find a good place for our Horidarz charge."

"_Yes Captain." _The computer's voice replied. _"Scan complete. Vector 654-53." _The display zoomed into this location.

"Septo, lock on that location and fire the Horidarz charge on my command. Robert, get us closer."

The _Enterprise_ was rocked by enemy fire. Four Sphere Builder ships crossed their path.

"Fire the shells." Williams watched as the specialized torpedoes fired out then became dozens of pure proton bombs, all hurtling at excessive speed at the enemy ships. "Well that worked. Their crystal ball must be malfunctioning."

"Coming up to coordinates." Reported Shepherd, trying to keep the ship stable as it was hit yet again.

A wing of late model birds-of-prey, painted Starfleet gray, screamed into the fray with their phasers blasting away, became visible on the display. The _Qu'Vat_ followed them.

Another Sphere Builder ship was on an intercept course but the _Hunter_ and _Phantom_ destroyed her with multiple hits.

"Target locked Captain." Informed the menacing looking Xindi.

"Fire!" Williams exclaimed, striking the armrest with a clenched fist. The Horidarz charge was the most potent weapon in the Federation's arsenal, created exclusively to target spheres.

The weapon shot out, and headed for the sphere, striking it at 700 mph.

"Order the fleet to go to warp!" The captain ordered as glowing cracks appeared on the surface of the sphere.

The _Enterprise_ and her fleet used their deflector dishes to create a quantum field, generating massive changes in local space curvature and a subspace tunnel was formed.

They exited into normal space a minute later, having traveled three light years. The explosion was visible on the spectrometer.

The _Enterprise, Qu'Vat_, and the birds-of-prey, leaving the fleet, returned to Procyon V. What they saw was the shattered sphere. The Sphere Builder ships either were reduced to atoms or had retreated.

Nakasone slumped back in her seat, releasing her apprehension. "What's the status of their network?"

"It is collapsing." Septo reported. "Isolated pocket in the Expanse. _Rotarran_ task force has engaged it." The _Rotarran_ was the _Enterprise's_ sister ship.

What the Sphere Builders had predicted, their defeat, had come to past. Their intentions to alter the outcome by attempting to annihilate 22nd Century Earth, the driving force for the formation of the Federation, believing the quadrant would remain fragmented and the fateful battle would never happen; was thwarted. Therefore, the timeline played out against them.

"_Forty vessels have arrived through slipstream. Sensors indicate they are Dominion."_ Informed Oracle.

Septo grunted. "They are suspiciously late. Should I target them?"

"No. Oracle hail the lead ship." Williams turned to his display as the ship's computer confirmed communications.

What appeared was a female Vorta, visible above her shoulders in a 3D image.

"Oh my God, she looks like-."

Williams cut off his XO. "I know." He paused, composing himself. "Rahel…"


End file.
